


The First Mate, Mr. 1

by FracturedSkeleton



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alabasta Arc, One Piece Universe, Roronoa Zoro-centric, Zoro is Mr 1, alabasta au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 08:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28740405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FracturedSkeleton/pseuds/FracturedSkeleton
Summary: “Coincidently, I was going to be stopping by this ship regardless,” the woman’s eyes slid over the crew and landed on the man leaning on the railing, hand on his blade.  “Isn’t that right, Mr. 1?” Zoro ignored the crew’s eyes as he let his arm fall back to his side.  “Crocodile has a new assignment for us and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to find out about your new Captain.”What if Zoro had taken up Baroque Work's offer 2 years before he met Luffy?
Comments: 4
Kudos: 57





	1. I'm only doing this because I'm Baroque

~East Blue, 2 years before Luffy and Zoro meet~

Nico Robin walked into the bar. All the patron’s eyes but one man turned to her. Ignoring them, she sits down next to the young bounty hunter ignoring her in favor of his meal. She noted how while he didn’t actively show it, he had already gauged her and was prepared to fight if she provoked. “When Mr. 59 didn’t show back up, I took interest.”

Zoro swallowed and didn’t look up at her, “I’ll tell you the same thing I told him before I killed him: If you want me to join you I’d better be your boss.”

Robin chuckled, “You certainly are interesting. Only 17 and already making a name for yourself as a promising bounty hunter. ...But that isn’t your goal, is it?”

“It gets me money,” he shrugged. 

Robin crossed her legs and leaned on the counter, “Your goal is to defeat one of the warlords, correct? A certain swordsman.”

He finally turned to her, “Are you deaf? I already told you, I’m not interested in some weird secret bounty hunter group that doesn’t even know who they’re working for.” 

“Crocodile,” she smiled.

Zoro nearly choked on his beer, “Him?!”

Robin leaned back in her seat, “I can’t promise you the boss’s title, but… How about I give you a shot at a top position?”

Looking her up and down, he considered what she was saying, “It figures you’d be high up.”

Robin raised her eyebrow and smiled, “Oh?”

“You’ve been on the run with a high bounty since a kid for what you supposedly know. It’s an old bounty poster, but you’re Nico Robin.” 

“And this is why I thought you’d be an excellent candidate for a numbered spot.” Robin folded her hands together. “This is what I can offer you: I can organize a fight between you and Mr. 1. It’s not an opportunity anyone joining gets. If you can defeat him, you will be offered his position. I need a capable partner in my missions. You’re new but already learning fast and show potential.”

Zoro rolled his eyes, “I’m still not interested.”

Robin smiled, “I can get you closer to Mihawk.”

Chewing the inside of his cheek, Zoro finally considered Baroque Works as an employer.

“You’ll be paid, able to travel much more freely,” she looked around at the dinky bar, “and you won’t be having to scrape by with what bounties you can find. All you have to do is accompany me on missions.”

After a moment, Zoro smiled, “That pitch was much better than the other guys.”

Robin stood up and held out her hand, “I’m glad I was able to convince you.”

Gathering his swords, he got up as well and took it, “You said I’ll be Mr. 1. What’s your codename?”

“Miss. Allsunday.”

~Shells Town~

Robin wasn’t always traveling with him when he wandered off to search for Mihawk. She had her own thing she was searching for. Zoro didn’t have all the details of what it was, but he knew it was part of why she was hunted at least. Either way, here he was, short on money again, and eating in a bar on the last of what he got from the bounty he turned in. He was pretty sure he was out of the grand line, but he figured he’d figure out exactly where after he finished his meal. At least that was his plan before the mangy mutt and his pompous master busted down the door and caused a ruckus.

And that was how he was tied to a pole in a Navy base. Not for being a Baroque works agent, but because he stopped a little girl from getting mauled by an untrained dog. He hoped Robin wouldn’t find out about this. She usually did, though.

“Hey mister!” the little girl from the bar had climbed over the fence. “I figured you’d be hungry so I made you some food!”

“Scram kid,” he glared at her the best he could. As good as food sounded, he didn’t want her getting killed.

“...But… you haven’t eaten in days!” and oh no she was using puppy dog eyes.

Hearing the gates open, Zoro turned to see the pompous asshole making his way over with a group of Navy soldiers. “Hey! You! What are you doing here? Kick her out!”

Zoro flinched as he saw her punted over the fence. Zoning out the idiot’s drawling about him and his dad, he told himself only a week left and he could try to contact Robin. Too bad he might have misplaced his snail somewhere on his search.

“You don’t look like a demon.”

Confused, Zoro looked up and found he hadn’t noticed a weird kid with a red vest and straw hat had come over the fence when he was zoning out. Man he needed food. “What do you want?”

The kid grinned, “I’m Monkey D. Luffy and you’re gonna be part of my crew!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zoro had told himself he’d contact Robin the next day, next week, next island, and then, there they were in the grand line and he realized how long it had been. Luffy had recruited another 3 people, they had a ship, and Zoro would genuinely laugh with them as they traveled from island to island. Shrugging it off, he figured she’d find him if they got a mission. They had gotten more infrequent and he had to have another couple months at least.

Then they met the whale. And inside the whale, a Mr. 9 and a Miss Wednesday. They were not subtle at all. After they had their asses soundley handed to them, he sat down in front of them to fish out what they were doing, maybe fuck with them a bit, only to have Nami interupt them. He knew for once which island they’d be too next, though. He wouldn’t tell them who he was. Being higher than them, he knew who they were but they didn’t know who he was. He’d contact Robin, let her know he was fine, make sure Baroque Works left his crew alone, and keep traveling with the Strawhats. He told himself again that he wouldn’t be assigned a mission for a couple more months, at least.

Just another couple months, then he'd come up with his next excuse.


	2. Isn't that right, Mr. 1?

He left the group to the drinking and eating a couple hours in. They’d be able to handle anyone that tried to fight them. It seemed like it was only Mr. 8 and his partner was here. Luffy could more than handle them. 

The mailing box took him longer than he expected to find. They must have moved it since last time he had been here he swore. Scrawling a quick note, he left out most of the details about the crew, just that he was fine and making his way back through the grand line. If she needed him he was sure she’d be able to find him. He was about to shove it into the slot when he heard an explosion. Taking into account who was based here he swore. Why was Mr. 5 here? He knew the crew would be fine, but if a numbered agent was taken out he was gonna get chewed out by Robin. He could feel it.

By the time he found his way back to the town, Luffy had already beaten the agents to a pulp. Zoro cringed. He had hoped they’d be able to fly under the radar but if the unluckies found out aaaaaand he just had to think about them. He ducked behind a building before any of his crew or god forbid, the unluckies, saw him. They would already be in danger, but if they found out one of their own was on the crew, it would make a big mess for him and Robin to sort out.

“Zoro!” Sanji yelled. “Where have-” 

Zoro slapped his hand over Sanji’s mouth before he could blow their cover. “I think you figured out this is a bounty hunter island,” Zoro whispered, eyeing the suspicious markings on Sanji’s leg. It looked like he had some interaction with Mr. 5. 

Sanji slapped his hand away, “Yea and we were worried they dragged your corpse somewhere, asshole. Where have you been?”

Poking his head from out of the alley, Zoro gave the all clear and started making his way toward the ship, getting pulled by Sanji down a different street, “I had to take a piss. What happened?” Zoro shrugged Sanji’s hand off and let him lead the way.

“Remember that pretty girl from the whale? She’s apparently a Princess,” Sanji practically sighed. “Nami said we’re taking her home. She demanded 1 billion berries but I’d do it for free.”

Zoro could feel his eyeballs roll so far as to almost get stuck in the back of his head. He remembered Robin mentioning something about a Princess infiltrating, but he didn’t remember what she had said aside from that. Robin was more the planner than him as well as long term, it didn’t matter for either of their plans. “So we’re heading for-”

“Alabasta I think,” Sanji stated.

Eyebrows raised, he hadn’t thought he’d be getting back there so soon. Had they really gotten that far into the Grand Line? Zoro felt his stomach sink. He didn’t have any excuse to stay with the crew the second they landed on that shore. He hadn’t sent in his report, they’d already be noticing his long absence, and if especially Robin found out where he was… he couldn’t think of any way he could keep sailing with them. 

Sanji side eyed Zoro. He usually would have started a fight with him by now but he looked so deep in thought. He didn’t even shove him off when he grabbed his arm to pull him to follow down the right street instead of wandering off. Something was going on.

Both of them were dragged out of their thoughts by an explosion off the pier and a scream. Sprinting to the site they found the crew along with the blue haired agent and the duck, looking out to the sea where a ship blazed on fire. Zoro gazed up at the sky, scanning for the shape of that otter and vulture. Seeing them, he mentally cursed at his luck. Not only could he not stay, he wouldn’t have an easy excuse to defend them if they were targets now. How would Robin handle something like this? Probably avoid being caught to begin with. 

“Come on! Everyone on the ship! We have to leave now!” Nami, despite not being the Captain, was great at snapping everyone back to reality and giving them that kick in the ass to move. The girl, probably the Princess, still crying got onto the ship. Appraising her, she had a steely determination in her eyes. Zoro didn't know what he missed, but it seemed to have fueled her resolve. 

Casting off the pier, Nami started sending out the directions, “Let out the sail! The next island is going to be in that direc-”  
There was a chuckle, and recognizing it, Zoro was the only one to not instinctively draw his weapon. He turned his head around to face her, and saw Usopp’s face of terror as his sling shot was slapped away, Luffy’s face of silent rage as his attack was diverted, Nami’s shock at seeing everyone disarmed, and the Princess’s complete horror and recognition of the woman sitting above them. Focusing his gaze to the balcony, there was Robin. Eyes focused on her, he could still see Sanji surprisingly with a gun. He didn’t flinch or take his eyes off Robin as he she disarmed and tossed Sanji down with the rest of the crew.

“No..” Vivi whispered. “They already found us.” 

“Who is she?” Nami asked, fear creeping into her voice.

“That’s… Miss Allsunday.” Vivi’s eyes were still locked onto Robin. “She’s the partner of the top agent! Mr. 1!”

Zoro felt his stomach drop. Still staring at Robin, he saw her smile softly. If she was here to kill them, they’d already be dead. So why was she toying with them? Why was she smiling like she had been invited to tea? Despite being her partner for two years, he still couldn’t fully read into what she was planning. He knew he slipped up. He should have sensed she was near.

“I come with a gift,” she smiled.

Luffy crossed his arms, “No.”

Nami ran in front of him, “Wait is that a log?”

Robin held up the eternal pose so the whole crew could more easily see and tossed it down to Luffy, “Indeed. It leads straight to Alabasta.”

“No.” Luffy scowled, “You don’t tell me where my ship goes.”

She chuckled, “Perhaps I don’t. There are many dangerous islands between here and there, and Baroque Works knows you’ll be on that route.”

Without a word, Luffy crushed the pose log, “We go where I say, not you.”

While Nami screeched at the loss, Vivi spoke up, “Why would you offer us that? What do you gain?”

Robin crossed her legs, “That’s for me to know.”  
“What are you even doing here? If you’re here to kill me than just kill me and leave them out of it!” Vivi implored.

“I’m not on an assignment to kill you,” Robin smiled.

Eyebrows furrowing in confusion, Vivi asked, “Then… why are you here?”

“Coincidently, I was going to be stopping by this ship regardless,” Robin’s eyes slid over the crew and landed Zoro, leaning on the railing, hand on his blade. “Isn’t that right, Mr. 1?” He ignored the crew’s eyes as he let his arm fall back to his side. “Crocodile has a new assignment for us and I’m sure he wouldn’t want to find out about your new Captain.”

Zoro refused to let himself look away from Robin. He could feel every searing glare from his crew. He could feel the betrayal from Sanji, fear from Usopp, shock from Nami. He bit the inside of his cheek, forcing himself to ignore Luffy. He couldn’t bear to think of what he must think of him. Wordlessly, still avoiding looking at his crew, Zoro calmly walked to the other side of the Going Merry, pausing for just a second, before climbing over the railing and jumping down to Robin’s transport turtle. 

Blocking out the yells and demands to know what Robin had been talking about, he sat down and crossed his arms. Nails digging in as he heard everyone but Luffy shouting. Robin jumped down after him and they were off.

After a couple of minutes and the Going Merry was no longer on the horizon, Robin broke the silence. “I’ve been tailing you for a couple days now.”

Zoro continued to look dead ahead. Just listening.

Robin gauged him, “I realized you didn’t notice when you didn’t break away from the group.”

He closed his eyes and shuffled down in his seat, trying to get comfortable enough to nap, “What’s the assignment?”

“It’s the final mission.” she stated.

Zoro finally opened on eye and looked at her, “The last?”

“If they don’t get there in time to stop the civil war, they’ll still be alive for you to rejoin them when this is all over.” 

Zoro closed his eye and let himself settle into the seat. Robin could see his eyebrows furrow. He’d never admit it, but he was very expressive with them and it made him very easy to read. He was trying to play out a scene where he could rejoin them. She knew they might not welcome him back, and she knew he was trying to not think of that outcome. She hoped they would survive and arrive to claim him as their own again. She hadn’t seen Zoro that happy and carefree before.

“First mate… certainly a better title than Mr. 1” she softly said.

Half asleep, Zoro grunted in agreement.


	3. The Fallout

“That bastard knew!” Sanji shouted. “He fucking knew we were sailing into a trap!”

Vivi stared at the horizon where the two had long since disappeared, “Why didn’t either of them…”

“I knew Zoro was scary strong but-” Usopp’s knees still hadn’t stopped shaking since Robin had disarmed them all in a single move. “An agent the whole time?! Working directly under Crocodile?”

Luffy’s frown deepened more and more with each remark.

Nami put her hand on Vivi’s shoulder, staring off in the same direction, “He would never have hurt any of us…”

“Luffy,” Sanji whipped around to face him, “We had better be going after them to kick his ass!”

“Shut up!” Luffy yelled, arms in the air.

The chaos of the ship stilled instantly, taken aback by the outburst.

“Zoro is still Zoro and we’re getting him back!” he declared. 

Sanji’s jaw dropped, “You’ve got to be kidding!”

Knees finally starting to stop shaking, Usopp stood next to Luffy, “I mean… I agree and all but… we’d be fighting Crocodile…” He shivered a bit at the thought, “That lady took us all out in seconds. What chance do we have against a warlord?”

Vivi put her arms around herself, “I have to fight him. If your friend is on his side-”

“No!” Luffy crossed his arms in defiance, “We’re getting Zoro back.”

Nami turned to face her stubborn captain. “How do you know he’ll come back? He’s just as stubborn as you are.”

“I’m beating Crocodile’s ass!” Luffy decided. “We’re setting sail!” He marched off to the Going Merry’s head and sat down. “I don’t care who Crocodile is. He has Zoro and I refuse to let him keep him.”

“You don’t understand,” Vivi pleaded, “It’s not just Crocodile. There are so many agents! If your swordsman really is Mr. 1 that should tell you how strong Baroque Works is!”

“I don’t care!” Luffy stared straight to sea. “I’ll beat them all myself if I have to.”

After a moment of silence from the crew, Nami was the first to speak up, “He helped defeat Arlong. I’ll fight.”

“He helped save my village too,” Usopp added in. “I’ll do my best.”

Sanji scoffed, “I don’t owe that asshole shit. If I see him and he’s fighting with the enemy that’s trying to kill us and destroy Vivi’s country, I’ll kill him.”

Nami frowned, “I know you two don’t get along, but he wouldn’t have left if he wasn’t so damn serious about keeping his word to people.” She turned to face him and pointed a finger, “If you turn this into some stupid reason to fight him I swear... “

“Is he really that good of a person?” Vivi was unsure how to react to the split between the crew. “If we find him in Alabasta, do you know he won’t hurt any of you? Do you know why he joined?”

Usopp shifted a bit, “I can’t say I know him the best, we’ve only been a crew for a couple months or so but, he sticks to his word no matter what. He could go either way. I don’t think he’d actually seriously hurt us. He knows our limits pretty well and his honor probably wouldn’t let him just walk away.”

Nami sighed, “If anything I bet he’ll completely avoid us if he can. He’s too stupid for his own good. He’s going to want us to stay away.”

“I’m getting him back.” Luffy spoke up from his spot, still staring toward where Zoro had sailed off. “He didn’t want to go.”

No one spoke.

“I could tell. He didn’t want to go back.” 

“How could you possibly tell that?” Vivi wondered.

“I just know it.”


	4. Little Garden Big Plans

The Ancient Island was astounding. As the crew sailed down the river, they gawked at the amazing plants that grew to enormous sizes.

Looking at her log pose, Nami pondered at how long it would take to lock onto the next island. “Hopefully this shouldn’t take more than a few days.” She glanced up at Vivi, knowing days might still be too long.

“MEAT!” Luffy scuttled off the ship and towards the forest. “I’m gonna find the biggest thing and bring it back to cook!”

Vivi mounted Kauroo and ran after him, smile on her face, “This isn’t a common island! I bet there’s a lot of interesting things here.”

Nami sighed and looked towards Usopp, “I’m staying here. You too, right?”

Usopp diligently nodded, “I’ve got Can’t go onto the weird island full of too big plants disease.” 

“I’m off to get actual supplies aside from meat,” Sanji jumped off the ship, leaving the other two screeching about not wanting to be alone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zoro rubbed his face. Him and Robin had arrived back on Alabasta and though Robin didn’t divulge the details, he knew the route they were taking could be challenging to the Strawhat crew. Moreso because other Agents would be after them and knowing Luffy, he’d run right into their traps without thinking. Mr. 3 wasn’t too much of a fight, but he was tricky.

“I wonder how they’ll get here,” Robin mused. “Their log pose will take a full year to set from Little Garden.”

He shrugged, “Luffy might go on without a pose then. Nami is a good enough Navigator to get them to the next island.”

The two still had a couple of days before the designated time to gather the rest of the agents for their meeting with Mr. 0 and Robin had witnessed more restlessness from Zoro in the past hour than she had during their previous missions combined. To his credit, their rooms didn’t have much in them for entertainment. They were very high end and high quality, better than the presidential suites in the casino and surrounding hotels, but as they were only occupied while waiting for the next mission, they were bare in terms of entertainment. Not much more than a bed with a view and a couple of chairs. 

“So did you find any of those weird stones?”

Robin was shaken out of her thoughts, not expecting Zoro to ask her about what she had been doing. “What?” 

“Those weird stones.” Zoro leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “I remember you found one that turned out to be something else. Did you find a real one yet?”

She stared dumbfounded, “You know what they are?”

“Nope,” he frowned a bit, “I kinda pieced together what you’re doing?” 

She continued to stare, processing.

He sighed, “I’ve been following you around for 2 years Robin. You’re from that one island that got burned to the ground that had a base of Historians. You look into old ruins and have a couple of books with weird symbols. I don’t know what you’re looking for, but I know you’re looking for it.”

Robin blinked, “You certainly never cease to surprise me.” She rested her chin on her hand as she leaned forward in her seat. “I haven’t found any others besides the lead I already had.”

“Here?” 

She nodded, “I’ll see if it’s what I’m looking for on the last day of Crocodile’s plan.”

“Any plans after that?” Zoro closed his eyes and got comfortable enough for a nap.

“It depends on what I find.”

“If it’s not?” he asked.

“....No.”

Zoro cracked his eye open at her, “Both plans better include me. It doesn’t matter if Crocodile’s stupid plan works or not. Once it’s over I’m heading out.”

She chuckled, “What about your crew?”

He was silent for a moment, “....You know they might not like seeing me again. You’re stuck with me no matter how this plan goes.” He closed his eye again and started dozing off.

She processed what he had said. He was concerned his friends might not be his friends anymore, and she saw the pain that thought held. The plans Crocodile made didn’t matter to her, he was a means to an end, same for Zoro. Continuing to travel together was a thought she would love to entertain, but it would be boring to travel with a Historian as opposed to a pirate crew.

Robin opened her mouth to say she didn’t think it would be agreeable to him, only to find him already asleep. She chuckled and picked up her book to read as he slept. It was nice just to exist like this while she still could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Luffy yelled and finally landed the final punch on that arrogant wax head’s head. With Mr. 3 finally down and Nami and Vivi out of the wax, they could finally set sail for Alabasta.

As they all regathered, Nami turned to Sanji, a little peeved he had been absent for the entire encounter. “Where were you?”

Sanji gestured back towards the jungle, “I found a weird hideout. Pretty sure I just talked to the boss of Baroque Works.” Holding up an eternal pose he got from a package meant for Mr. 3, Nami’s annoyance instantly dissolved. 

“Yes!” she happily held the pose. “Vivi! We can go straight there!”

Vivi smiled, but was still concerned, “You spoke with Crocodile?”

Sanji nodded, “He asked if Mr. 3 killed us and I said yes. Beat up a weird otter and vulcher to get that” he pointed at the pose.

She chewed her lip, “They might suspect something when the Unluckies don’t show up.”

Luffy crossed his arms, “Don’t care. We’re going their either way. Doesn’t matter to me what they think.”

Nami whacked his arm, “I CARE!”


End file.
